


An Echo of Thunder

by WashiPuppy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Head Injury, Infiltration Mission, Keith is having none of it, Lance has a plan, Pet Names, SNAFU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 06:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8701012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WashiPuppy/pseuds/WashiPuppy
Summary: Good thing Lance has a plan.
Okay, the second part of the plan had a few holes. It was a work-in-progress. Keith didn't need to know that though.





	1. Lance

Blaster fire struck Lance's back and shoulder armour as he sped across the ground, ignoring the dark char-marks and pain as best he could. It was just more injuries on top of his already long list of complaints. He twisted his speeder at the lip of a crater, letting the vehicle slide out from under him as he used the movement to go from riding to running as quickly as possible. The dismount wasn't the most graceful thing ever, leaving him with arms flailing wildly as he fought to keep his forward momentum and not face-plant into the dirt, but right now he was in a hurry.

Keith's life might literally depend on it.

* * *

Things had gone wrong all at once, as they always seemed to do when the team was split. Two distress beacons had briefly flared-up in the same general section of space before being quickly silenced. Scans of those locations showed several odd power signatures immediately afterwards, so of course Voltron had to investigate - Given the sudden silencing of the beacons it seemed unlikely that it was supposed to be a trap, and the odd power signatures could have been a Robeast or some other weapon of mass destruction. The fact that there were two beacons that were triggered at the same time was the most concerning thing, so the plan had been to investigate both, immediately and simultaneously.

No engagement, just view and report. If something needed action, or if both needed help, that would be decided once they'd reported back.

That was the theory, at least.

Pidge was sent to one location (Allura's records had that particular planet as being home to a highly advanced civilisation, but as she pointed out, those records were still out of date in places) with Hunk to run extraction if required. Meanwhile, Keith was sent to this planet with Lance to act as his back up. Shiro was held in reserve to co-ordinate and act as reinforcement if needed.

Keith and Lance were in the planet's atmosphere, Keith was even beginning his decent to the ground below, when the coms lit up and Pidge's face bathed in bright warning lights appeared on their consoles.

"Allura! We're under heavy fire! I repeat, we are under fire! We're being attacked!" She shouted over the sounds of battle rumbling around her.

Hunk appeared moments later. "Like, serious fire here! We need help!"

"Copy that." Allura's voice rang over the sounds of battle. "We are scrambling the castle to intercept. Lance, Keith - retreat and rendezvous with Shiro."

Lance barely heard the command, spotting a bright light on the planet below that shot upwards, sending twisting purple crackles of energy blasting through the atmosphere.

Towards the Red Lion.

Keith had no way of seeing the attack, he was both responding to Allura and facing the wrong way. Pidge and Hunk were still sending panicked reports over the coms, so Lance's warning wasn't going to be heard over the commotion already happening. That was the only thing Lance had time to think before he was moving, pushing his Lion to body slam the smaller, lighter Red Lion out of the blast path.

Blue's shield flared to life only for the blast to punch straight through, barely slowing. Cold terror rush through Lance as he watched helpless, time slowing until the blast struck Blue.

There was a moment of strange timelessness as Blue was knocked back before the sound of the blast hit with an echoing boom, like thunder directly overhead, that sent her crashing down. Lance would swear he heard his name called over the roar and the sound of screaming metal - definitely by Keith, perhaps by Shiro as well - as he spiralled out of control before slamming hard into the ground below.

When Lance came back to himself moments later, Blue was unresponsive - no presence, definitely no reaction to him urging her to move. His ears were ringing so loudly that it took a while to realise that he could hear voices, drowned out by the slowly fading sounds of bells.

"Lance, respond!" That was Shiro's voice, but no visual showed up on the console. Of course it wouldn't - the console was dead. The voices could only be coming through his helmet.

"Lance, if you can hear, respond!" Allura's voice too, any panic she might have been feeling crushed beneath determined calm.

Shouting, swearing - that was Keith. He could see the Red Lion dancing through the sky, dodging the purple energy but unable to get close to its source.

Lance lifted a shaking hand up to his helmet, making sure it was in place and functional before he responded.

"I'm alive." He reported, looking around the cockpit. It was all still in one piece with no burned or damaged sections, but it was completely dark. "For a given value of alive, anyway. Blue's not though. I'm getting no response, and I've got no power. She... She's out."

* * *

Keith made it to the ground in one piece, and Lance was suddenly grateful for the impressive crater that Blue had left behind when she crashed. It gave the Red lion something to hunker down in, out of direct line of sight of the base that housed that energy cannon.

"We could just stay here." Lance pointed out. "Red's shield has Blue covered at the moment, and we seem to be too small a target for... whatever that thing was... when we're outside of the Lions. If we hold until the castle gets here, we could at least have aerial support for any extraction."

As far as plans went, Lance was aware that it had problems. Sure, the castle's shields were stronger than the Lions, and even if they weren't enough to withstand the new twister-cannon, the castle's guns had a greater range. But that wasn't the only problem.

"Red wasn't able to punch through the shields around the cannon from any distance I could reach," Keith pointed out. "And Yellow and Black _might_ be able to survive the cannon, but there's no guarantee."

"Right, right. With Blue out, Voltron is also out." Lance grumbled, knowing full well that Keith was right. "And if the shields can't hold, no way Hunk can dodge the cannon."

"Losing any more lions will just compound the problem." Keith agreed firmly. "Besides, you heard Allura - they need to get Hunk and Pidge before they can even think about an extraction."

Keith squinted over to where the base loomed like an ominous purple bee-hive. "I don't think the shields stretch all the way to the ground."

"High enough for a Lion to run under?" Lance asked, following Keith's line of sight.

"I don't think so. But it's definitely big enough for a human on a speeder."

Lance shot Keith a look, noting the determination on his face. There was no question about it; Keith was going to break into the base and either sabotage the cannon or sabotage the shields and THEN the cannon. And he was going to do it with or without Lance. At least if Lance helped, Keith had a better chance.

Lance sighed and stood. "Well, let's see if Blue's speeder is still intact, otherwise we're going to have to go double on yours."

* * *

They were spotted fleeing the Shield's control room. It was inevitable; they were lucky not to have been spotted already, and neither Lance nor Keith were the best at manipulating Galra technology. And that's definitely what this base was - an experimental weapons testing facility for the Galra empire, with that damned cannon forming the centrepiece. Even worse, the whole place was on high-alert after shooting down an actual Lion of Voltron.

Lance just counted himself and Keith lucky that most of the on-ground personnel were robots. There were probably scientists in there too, but they weren't patrolling the halls looking to shoot strangers on sight.

Keith got the computer on and the shields off while Lance kept a lookout. Keith managed the power down sequence just fine, but it looked like the only way of locking that in place that Keith could see was 'Break the console and hope for the best.'

Lance nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Keith's bayard slicing through the console and input keyboard, even the podium that the whole thing sat on. He gave Keith a dirty look that he felt conveyed 'A little warning might have been nice.' very eloquently. Keith responded with an embarrassed but completely unapologetic shrug.

Sirens kicked up only a tick later, drawing both Paladin's eyes up to the ceiling and the blaring red lights that suddenly flooded the room. A mechanised voice alerted the whole base to the raising of the shield on one side of the building, overlayed by a similarly mechanised voice reporting the damage to the shield control station, right down to the room that the pair of paladins were in.

Lance and Keith shared a panicked look, both simultaneously hit with the realisation that the time for stealth was now passed. They needed to get out, and they would need to fight their way out.

Lance did so love these mid-mission conversations they had.

As one they bolted into the hallways, Keith on point and Lance behind him to watch both Keith's back and his own ass as they fled.

The patrols came shortly after, and their escape became an all-out fire-fight. They moved as quickly as they could through the halls, both holding their shields up, Lance firing at the approaching robots while Keith dispatched any dumb enough to come close. When the coast was a little clearer they bolted, Keith slicing through unsuspecting attackers that met them behind corners or doors and Lance picking off any that stood at the ends of halls or the backs of rooms they passed through. They would sprint up hallways until the resistance became too great and they needed to move back to back again, slowly progressing towards the exit.

Lance struggled to keep up with Keith's forward press, firing in both directions as he stuck so close he could feel the body heat radiating off of the red paladin, telling him every move Keith was about to make as it shifted and changed. He could feel sweat and possibly (probably) blood running down the back of his neck inside his suit. His legs ached from bracing his shield against the onslaught of fire and from several places where their defence had failed and blasts had gotten through, leaving dark, cracked places across his armour and torn, burned streaks along the black under-suit. A direct hit against his left arm was also bleeding into his suit, but adrenaline kept him from feeling it. Right now he was too busy keeping himself and Keith alive as Keith powered forwards, forcing Lance to race backwards to cover him. They reached a locked door, behind which Lance knew was a hallway that lead to a store room with an air intake vent and purification system that they'd busted and used to sneak in.

Good thing Keith at least had a sense of direction. Lance wouldn't have found his way back there on his own.

On this side of the door, a squad of Galra soldiers and a small clutch of the sentinel robots left on the base were bearing down on them fast.

Keith got to work prising the door open while Lance covered him with his shield, laying down imprecise covering fire.

"Want to hurry it up back there?" He hissed.

"Give me a minute!" Keith bit back. "We didn't come through this door the first time around."

"Hate to break it to you, but we might not have a minute." Lance grumbled. Despite that, his mind was already working.

There was a corridor to their left. Lance could hear the metallic footfalls of droids moving to come up the left and flank them. The Galra in front were coming up way too fast, using the robots before them as cover from his rifle blasts. If Keith managed to get the door open before they got here, the squad would be upon them before the door had even closed behind them. And the Galra wouldn't have to pry the door open manually.

Getting out through the vent took time. Not much, but they needed a little bit of leeway to wriggle through without being blasted or grabbed by the Galra soldiers. There was no time to block the door, so they'd need to make that time somewhere else. An explosion would work best, or some barricade to throw before the door, but Lance had no way of making any explosions or barricades.

The best bet would be to split up, much as he hated to think that. Lance could stay behind once the door was opened, push forwards slightly and take out as many Galra as he could. Keith could take the time that Lance managed to hold the Galra off to escape. The Red Lion was still functional, so Keith would be able to take the speeder out to the crater and pilot the Red Lion back to the base before the Galra had time to repair the shield. That would leave Blue undefended for a while, but Lance was confident that the Galra wouldn't be able to move her while Red lay siege to their base. Keith could break in through the side of the shield that was taken down and target the Twister Cannon from up close - without the shields, Red's weapons might be enough to destroy it. Then he could take out the rest of the base and collect Lance.

If Lance managed to survive that long.

If he bolted left after giving Keith the time to escape, he might be able to run-and-gun long enough to find a hiding place. Or he could try to surrender and hope they didn't have a kill-on-sight order on him.

Okay, the second part of the plan had a few holes. It was a work-in-progress. Keith didn't need to know that though.

Behind Lance, Keith had the door open enough to almost stick a shoulder through. It might just open enough for Keith to get through before the Galra were on top of them. So that was good news, at least.

"Keith," Lance spoke as quietly as he could over the sound of gunfire. He continued without waiting for Keith to acknowledge him. "When You get the door open, make a break for it. I'll hold them off long enough for you to get out."

"No." Keith responded, predictably.

"We don't have time to argue. You need to bring Red back and take out the cannon, fast." Lance hissed. The Galra were nearly upon them - this fire-fight was about to turn into a brawl.

Everything ached.

"No." Keith growled. The door screeched as his sword prised it open a little further, letting Keith force a shoulder in. Lance huffed out a sigh, biting down on his urge to turn around and clock Keith. They didn't have the time.

"Keith, I need you to trust me, please. I have a plan. I'll find you after the cannon's gone." Lance said calmly. A low blow perhaps, but it wasn't entirely untrue.

Keith stilled for only a moment before returning in earnest to forcing the door open, the last few inches easier with Keith already wedged into the gap. That was all the acknowledgement Lance got.

_'It will have to do'_ , Lance thought as he pressed his shield forwards to try and throw off the mangled form of a badly shot-up robot that the lead Galra had thrown at him. He deflected the robotic remains to the right, returning focus just in time to see the squad leader dash towards him, gun aimed to fire past his shield.

Another shield flared to life over Lance's left shoulder, just in time to stop the bolt from striking him. Lance didn't even have time to react before he was spun by a hand on his hip, stepping him around as though in a dance. He was pushed through the already closing door, continuing his spin just in time to see Keith in profile, sword at the ready and shield sparking on the far side of the door.

Just in time to watch the door slide shut between them.

"KEITH!" Lance shouted, allowing himself only the amount of time it took to kick the door before turning to sprint towards the exit, cursing under his breath the whole way.

He needed to hurry. He needed to get Keith out alive so that he could give that unrelenting, contrary ass-hat a piece of his mind.

* * *

Which bought him here. Racing across an alien landscape, reporting Keith's situation to Allura while she fed him ETA's that were far, FAR too far away.

No point in secrecy now.

The patrols hadn't made it all the way out to the crash site yet, at least. Just almost to the crash site, leaving Lance to shoot as many of them down as he could before he ditched the speeder.

Before him Blue still lay on her side, body twisted in a way that looked like it would have been painful had Blue been awake. Or alive. It reminded him of the dead animals he'd seen in the nature documentaries in a way that chilled him to the bone. The Red Lion was laid flat along the ground beside her like a guardian, head rested between their paws at eye level to Lance.

He ran up against the particle barrier that Red had erected over both the prone Blue Lion and themselves and knocked his hand against it once. The barrier dropped to let him in with barely a dip in his speed.

Desperately, he tried to reach out to feel any spark of life in Blue. It was there, but far too faint to reach - Blue was coming back online, but she was still out of commission right now. Lance didn't have time to wait for her to come back.

More importantly, Keith didn't have time.

Lance switched his focus to the Red Lion. It was a long shot, but not without precedent. The Red Lion had moved on its own to protect Keith before, he just needed to convince them to do it again. Admittedly, this was a lot more complicated than just moving through space - if he could get the Red Lion to follow a plan, more's the better. But right now he'd settle on just moving.

Lance raced towards the Red Lion, stopping to knock on their nose.

"Come on, wakey wakey." He called. The Red Lion didn't move. "Oi, wake up! We need to go get Keith."

Still nothing. The Red Lion must not know the severity of the situation. Well, Lance would just need to impress it upon them.

"Come on, seriously." Lance grumbled as he began to clamber up the side of the Red Lion's head, "Keith's in life-threatening trouble here, and we need to go a-saving now!"

the windshield lit finally lit up as Lance sat himself on the Red Lion's nose, just before Red raised their head. Lance whopped and threw his hands into the air before nearly overbalancing and scrabbling back to right himself.

"Alright, that-a-lion. Now, let me in so I can help."

The Red Lion appeared to stare at him, not moving. Lance felt his momentary elation crash through the ground, leaving cold dread in its wake.

"Come on!" Lance tried not to sound too much like he was whining. "Fine, I'll ride here, but we need to go now!

Red tilted their head down, causing Lance to slide off and onto the ground below. He landed heavily on the fused soil and stone beneath the Lions, body protesting the drop.

"Ow ow ow." Lance grumbled, glaring up at the Red Lion. Red made no other move.

"Alright, fine! Listen here you... you stuck-up mechanical jerk!" Lance shouted, pulling himself upright. "If you don't like me, that's fine. If you don't want anyone but your pilot in the cockpit, that's fine! But guess what? If we don't go now, you might have to get used to another pilot pretty damn quickly, because Keith will be dead! Do you understand me? D.E.A-" Lance's voice broke mid-word, a half squeak the only thing that came out. His vision blurred and his eyes burned hot with tears boiling below the surface. No. He couldn't cry, not yet. Not while there was even a chance that Keith was still alive.

He fixed an angry scowl on the Red Lion. "Fine, to hell with you then." He snarled, already mentally working out whether he could cannibalise any parts of Blue to either build a gun strong enough to break that cannon or, failing that, parts that he could overload to create an explosion. He'd apologise to Blue once she was repaired. He hoped she'd understand... "I'll go myself."

The Red Lion responded with a growl that Lance heard inside his mind.

Wait...

Lance had just enough time to realise that he'd definitely _heard_ that _inside his head_ before the Red Lion bent their head down and closed their mouth around him in a single bite.


	2. Keith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making sure Lance had the time to get out of here was the right decision. Lance probably didn't see it that way, but that was fine. If Keith could hold out until the rest of Voltron made it, he might even get to hear all about it.

Adrenalin, determination, spite.

Those were the three things keeping Keith conscious right now. He tried to make himself as small as possible, hidden between storage crates which were covered in technical descriptions in Galran script. Keith couldn't read Galran very well yet, so he had no idea what he was hiding behind. He just hoped it wasn't explosive.

He'd scoured the room for any vents or air control systems, to no avail. Although he was sure he was at the outer edge of the base, there was no air intake or even a door to the outside world, and the vents in the roof were too small for him. He wouldn't be able to stay here long. It was only a matter of time before this room was searched too, before they saw his heat signature or smelled blood or whatever Galra and their robots used to find people, and he'd have to fight his way out again. And the only way out of this room was also the only way in.

This sucked.

Still, the moment of peace gave him time to bind any injuries that were still bleeding and contemplate his terrible, terrible decisions. Even if thinking hurt his head right now. His helmet sat beside him, blackened and cracked in a way that made him glad his skull had been protected. Any communication happening between Lance and the rest of the paladins was rendered as just static growls thanks to the damage, but the last thing he'd heard was their ETA. He just needed to last that long. He could do that. He was just stunned (stunned sounded better than concussed, even if he did want to throw up a bit) and suffering from a bit of blood loss and burning right now. Besides, who was here to argue with his self-assessment?

He hoped Lance was still OK. This whole sabotage mission had been Keith's idea, and if Lance had ended up where Keith was now, or if Lance had died here because of Keith's decision...

Keith _would_ have been able to live with himself if Lance was killed because of him, but only because he'd have no other choice. He would still hate himself every day. For that one selfish reason alone, making sure Lance had the time to get out of here was the right decision.

Lance probably didn't see it that way, but that was fine. If Keith could hold out until the rest of Voltron made it, he might even get to hear all about it.

Keith flinched back upright suddenly as a noise rang out somewhere within the base and echoed through the hallways. Every ache protested the movement, and Keith's mind scrabbled to catch up. Did he fall asleep for a moment? Was he blacking out? Keith wasn't sure which was worse. He needed every edge he could get right now; this was not the time for his adrenaline to crash.

Above, the sound of nearby thunder rumbled, echoed by a savage, mechanical roar.

Keith gasped, a rush of hope flooding into him so fast it nearly knocked him over. That had to be the twister cannon firing at a Lion. That meant... the team had arrived! Had he made it? Was the rest of Voltron here? Had they arrived faster than expected, or had he actually passed out for that long? That was worrying...

Keith pulled himself upright and jammed his helmet back onto his head, switching the sound off. Rescue was close, so close. He just needed to get to it.

Sirens wailed, explosions rocked the foundations of the base and made the floor shake, and Keith was having trouble focusing on anything in particular as he peered out into the hallway. Everything was noise and confusion, and then suddenly there was a single moment of...

Silence...

Followed by the echoing boom of something powerful exploding.

Keith ducked instinctively in the doorway, half expecting the base to fall down on him. The walls moved with the sound, flexing but not breaking under the strain of it. After a tick, he peered cautiously out into the hallway, arms still covering his head.

All clear. Time to get out of here.

Keith took a right turn, trying to listen for approaching soldiers as he made his way unsteadily up the hall, but any sound was drowned out by the sudden scream of rending metal and blaster fire that echoed from somewhere just ahead of him. Keith ducked into another doorway, straining to listen over the sound of blood rushing around his head. When that didn't work he peered around the door frame to get a visual on whoever was approaching.

Against the fiery glow of destroyed metal and molten electronics stood a figure far too short to be a Galra, clad in blue and white armour. Keith leaned against the door, willing himself to stand up and step out to meet Lance before relief robbed him of his ability to move. Lance was here. Keith was going to be OK. Lance was OK.

Lance bolted towards Keith as soon as he stepped out, his bayard shrinking back to its hand-held variant as he reached Keith. Just in time to catch him as his vision went black.

* * *

Keith became aware of the floor first. There was metal beneath most of his body, aside from something much softer under his head. That led to the second thing he became aware of - his armour and helmet had been removed, leaving him in just the black under-armour suit.

The third thing was a toss-up between pain and nausea. Every muscle screamed of over-exertion and all the places over his body where something had managed to break through the body suit were covered in something that stung like hell, which Keith figured meant that at least it was probably good for him. However, all of that was minor compared to the throbbing headache he had.

Sound eventually permeated his mind through the haze of pain, and Keith took a moment to be pleased that at least nose didn't make his head hurt worse.

"-isn't the same thing, and you damn well know it." He heard Lance grumble. Lance was here too then. Was he already back at the castle? No - the sound was wrong. The echo spoke of a much smaller room, and the rumble of the ship around him was definitely more consistent with a Lion than the castle itself.

He heard what sounded like a grumble that ran along the edges of his mind but didn't penetrate the bubble that had settled uncomfortably around all his thoughts. It didn't sound like the radio... actually, it didn't sound like sound, now that Keith thought about it.

Thinking hurt.

"Hey, I know - How about you stop bitching at me?"

There was a growled response that Keith couldn't quite hear through the haze of ouch that his head had become.

"Yeah, well these 'Meat Bags' pilot your damn ass around space, show a little respect." Lance replied sharply to the unheard argument. Who the hell was Lance talking to?

Another grumbled growl managed to push harder against that mental bubble. Because it wasn't sound, like Lance's voice was. That growl was inside his head.

"Okay, on behalf of all humans everywhere, you can bite me, you... crabby space cat."

Lance was arguing. Lance was arguing with... uh...

"Oh my stars, fine! If I say it, will you stop arguing with me and pick up the damned pace so we can get your idiot pilot into a healing pod already?!"

Keith carefully opened his eyes and immediately shut them as the red glare of his Lion's cockpit assaulted his retina. Sound might not make his brain hurt worse, but light sure as hell did.

That confirmed it though. Lance was talking to Keith's Lion. More accurately, Lance was having an argument with Keith's lion.

But that would mean that Lance could hear Red.

That presence that hovered on the outside of his thoughts focused on him, a moment of heat and fire assaulting his brain before it dialled back to a gentle warmth. He heard Lance gasp, then some clicks and slides as Lance switched something on at the controls before leaping out of the pilot’s chair to run over to him.

"Keith! Keith, you awake?" Lance all but yelled in Keith's face before a gentle hand pushed his hair off of his forehead. "If you can hear but can't answer, a thumbs up will do."

Lance's hands were cool and soft, pushing back the pain in his head where they touched him.

"Please don't shout," Keith managed, voice rough and slurred. He opened his eyes a sliver, using his eyelashes to shield himself from the worst of the glare.

Lance's face swam blurry in his vision, back-lit by the red lights of his Lion. It was hard to get a read on his expression, but the relieved sigh and visible sagging of Lance's shoulders gave Keith a pretty good idea.

"Thank quiznak," Lance mumbled before saying louder "Guys, Keith's awake."

_'Conscious.'_ Red purred gently in his mind. Keith sent a thought to confirm that he at least partially agreed with that statement.

"Keith! Keith can you hear me?" Hunk's voice said from the dashboard, drowning out Pidge's smaller "Please tell me that he's okay."

"Yesh," Keith rasped in reply to both, blinking a few more times against the light.

"Keith," Shiro's said, sounding tired and relieved. "Glad you're alright."

"As am I," Allura added. "For both of you."

Keith scrunched his eyes firmly shut and decided not to say anything that might contradict that assessment.

"Red, tone it down in here a bit." Lance instructed as he rummaged around under the pilot’s chair.

_'Fornicate with a black hole.'_ Red responded, dimming the lights to a more comfortable level.

"Screw you too, buddy," Lance said conversationally as he helped Keith sit up a little, despite his body's protests. Lance eyed Keith's head and body with obvious displeasure.

"We're going to need to have a chat about you pulling stuff like that in the middle of a firefight once you're all put back together." Lance grumbled. Keith took the chance to run an assessment of his own. Lance was still in his full armour, but he looked pretty banged up too. He had a piece of bandaging or a fabric pad duct-taped over a cut on one arm, as well as some dried blood on his lip and forehead. His suit was covered in blaster marks and burns, bits of fabric torn away in some places to reveal burns where a shot had cut through to skin.

"You look... like shit." Keith managed, carefully trying not to slur when he spoke.

"I think you mean 'Hot Shit' there, since I'm the dude that dragged your ass out of the fire." Lance responded with a cheesy grin, pulling something out of the bag he'd grabbed from under the chair.

"No-ooo, just regular shit." Keith managed.

Red's laughter rumbled across his mind like a heard of tiny wildebeest. Keith winced.

_'Apology.'_ Red chuckled at him.

"Keep it down, he's probably rattled his brain" Lance said to the cockpit before turning his focus back to Keith. "That's real rich coming from you, Mr. Kettle." Lance grumbled. Keith watched Lance in confusion.

"My last name isn't Kettle," Keith pointed out.

"No, I was referencing the proverb - you know, that one about pots and kettles and not calling each other stupid?" Lance tried to explain. Keith considered just falling asleep again to avoid trying to work out what cookware had to do with anything. Lance threw his hands up dramatically. "Whatever. Pidge, step me through these checks again."

Pidge began reciting a series of questions to see what kind of injuries Keith had (definitely a concussion, as it turned out. Wonderful), while Lance relayed any answers back that required anything more complicated than a yes or no. Lance was moving around the cockpit with ease, making sure Keith was settled and had water and a bucket before returning to the pilot’s seat to bring Red into the castle.

Keith let himself relax back, waiting for the jealousy or anger or... well, some kind of negative emotion to hit him at physical proof that Lance could, and indeed was piloting the Red Lion. Lance was acting so casual about it, trading insults like it wasn't something huge that Red even allowed Lance to hear them. It took everyone such a long time to be able to get more defined concepts from their own Lions, and here Lance was holding elaborate arguments with Keith's Lion within hours of being inside Red for the first time.

Maybe it was the concussion talking, but a warm feeling filled Keith with such force that it was almost painful, and Keith couldn't stop smiling. Lance had somehow convinced Red to let him pilot them, specifically to save Keith. Red had let Lance connect with them well enough that they _could_ exchange insults. Lance was so obviously worried for Keith that he seemed almost delighted for the chance to argue with anyone right now, rather than let his mind ply him with worst-case scenarios.

Keith let out a long, relieved breath, face already hurting from the grin. He was alive. Everyone was alive and OK.

He was going to throw up.

* * *

There was a stretcher waiting for Keith in the central hanger when Lance helped him out of his Lion. That kind of seemed like overkill to Keith, but since the other option seemed to be being carried bridal style by Coran, Keith decided to allow it. It gave him a good place to watch the Yellow and Black Lions carefully land with the damaged Blue Lion between them.

Blue didn't look good at all, and Keith wondered how long it would take to repair the damage. He also wondered, not for the first time, how Lance had been OK after that crash. Keith had been terrified for a moment that the last thing he'd hear from Lance was a choked scream followed by horrible silence. That his last words might be "I don't know, but it kind of looks like the inside of a jelly doughnut. Or jelly, I guess."

No one's last words should be doughnut based. Although, if anyone's last words were going to be about doughnuts, Lance was a pretty good candidate.

Yeah, getting checked out was probably a good idea. Keith's thoughts were kind of getting away from him.

Lance was still standing by Red, watching the landing with a sad expression. He turned away from Keith and carefully placed a hand on Red's nose, a gesture that made Keith want to smile again.

Suddenly, a roar split the air. Coran flinched violently behind Keith, nearly tipping him off of the stretcher in the process.

"What the blazes!" Coran shouted. Keith would have echoed the sentiment had he not been trying his best not to fall off of the stretcher.

He looked up just in time to see the Blue Lion surge forwards, back legs still not completely under their control yet from the look of things. It was almost comical, except for the fact that the Blue Lion was heading straight for Red. Blue raised a large metal paw to slap at the Red Lion's head. Red recoiled with the force, shaking their head before turning to snarl at The Blue Lion.

"Hey, whoa! Okay, that's enough of that." Lance shouted, racing between them both. Because of course Lance would try to break up a fight between two giant robot lions by physically getting between them.

Idiot.

"Blue, chill! What's gotten into you, beautiful?" The idiot in question called up to his Lion.

Blue made a low, dissatisfied grumble before slumping to the side and turning her head away from Lance.

Keith couldn't hear her response, but whatever it was, it had Lance sputtering.

"Oh come on! It was an emergency! You were injured, I was injured - it was a bad time all around." He exclaimed, waving his arms around.

Blue audibly grumbled again in response. Behind Keith, Coran began laughing.

"You know you're my number one. Hey, I'll make it up to you, OK? I promise." Lance cajoled. Blue seemed to relent a little.

"Walked right into that one." Coran exclaimed with delight, carefully wheeling Keith out of the hanger.

"Um. Is the Blue Lion... jealous?" Keith asked before immediately deciding that the idea was just ridiculous. The Blue Lion was a huge robot that could transform into part of a larger robot. With Red. They were one body sometimes. How could a leg be jealous of an arm?

And anyway, robots didn't get jealous. Right?

"Maybe a little bit," Coran responded brightly. "Mostly I think they just want Lance to be focused on them again."

Ah. Apparently, Blue was a special snowflake of a robot. That made sense.

* * *

"I know I'm going to regret asking," Keith began, stretching his arms above his head. "But why does Blue have two stripes running along their sides?"

The castle had landed on an inhabitable planet while Blue was under repair, or healing, or however Allura worded it. Keith felt a bit like he'd been "under repair" too, having been thrown into a healing pod once Coran had genetically sampled him and checked him over for anything that might interfere with the healing process.

Which was exactly the kind of comforting thought you wanted just before you were placed in a piece of alien tech.

Ostensibly they were out on the planet's surface giving the Lions a run, making sure Blue was completely back in working order and able to form Voltron. Keith couldn't help but think that the check was as much for him as it was for Blue, to make sure there were no lasting effects from being shot in the head.

Lance stood beside him, staring up at Blue with a pleased expression. Hunk lay on the ground beside them both, almost asleep, while Pidge and Shiro sat off to one side, Shiro nodding indulgently as Pidge spoke.

"Well, Blue was in need of a little love, y'know?" Lance said, with a broad smile, "So I decided to give her racing stripes."

Keith blinked at Lance. Lance hadn't been podded, so he still had some cuts and marks. Most were well hidden by the newly repaired paladin armour.

"Racing stripes," Keith repeated, just to make sure he heard correctly.

"Apparently they'll make her go faster." Pidge shouted over to them.

"How did you even hear that from over there?" Lance called back, walking towards the green and black paladins. Keith tuned out the ensuing bickering to look back up at Blue.

Keith smiled. Maybe they wouldn't make her go faster, but they looked cool. Would Red like stripes, he wondered? He looked over to where his Lion stood, already planning to ask on the way home.

Then Red... well, Keith was almost certain that Red winked at him. Which was demonstrably not possible, because Red had no eyelids. Still, Red definitely winked.

That was all the warning Keith got before Red pounced, dropping their chest and head to the ground and carefully scooping Lance up into his mouth before turning and running off, towards the sun.

A short, surprised shout came from Pidge, startling Hunk enough that he flung himself into a seated position. Even Shiro could only stared blankly as Blue roared and gave chase, in pursuit of Red and their captive Paladin.

"Uh... Lance?" Shiro asked his helmet.

Lance's voice came over the coms as a series of oofs and ouches, followed by a calmer "Okay, hold on - right, I'm OK guys."

Shiro looked at his helmet in confusion. "So... do you want to bring the Lion's back? Any time you're ready would be good."

"Right! OK, let’s turn around here." Lance replied. There was a brief pause, in which Keith could hear the sound of roaring in the distance. "Red, stop this. Turn around now!" Pause. "Yes, yes I want you to turn!" Pause. "No, not like... that's an aileron roll!" Pause. "Because I know my aerial manoeuvres, ass." Pause. "Don't you dare try telling me I'm using the wrong controls!"

Keith was pretty sure he was going to die laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The working title for this story was "Lance Pilots the Red Lion".

**Author's Note:**

> I like a Lance that can plan and a hothead Keith.
> 
> What's the American version of Double Dink? Like... I have no idea how to even find that out.


End file.
